Am I a workaholic?

12-03-2012, 09:47 AM

I go to work daily. I do day specific tasks, go to scheduled meetings, use spare time for doing tasks from my next action lists. I do weekly and daily reviews. And I feel guilty when I have spare time but I'm tired, not capable to do anything. Am I a workaholic? Am I a doing machine, a robot?

I go to work daily. I do day specific tasks, go to scheduled meetings, use spare time for doing tasks from my next action lists. I do weekly and daily reviews. And I feel guilty when I have spare time but I'm tired, not capable to do anything. Am I a workaholic? Am I a doing machine, a robot?

Test yourself against the three laws of robotics:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

Sounds like you may be falling down somewhere on these, so you're probably not a robot, no.
Do yourself a favor and treat yourself a little better. No need to feel guilty.

Comment

And I feel guilty when I have spare time but I'm tired, not capable to do anything. Am I a workaholic?

Are you also managing all of your personal responsibilities well?

And are you enjoying your life the way you've designed it?

When I was single, I was a workaholic and a social-aholic. I brought the same crazy-fun hours and passions to all areas of my life, and I loved it. Could I maintain that now that I have family responsibilities? No way! I had to choose balance and, well, wakefulness, over workfulness.

Comment

Dena, could you please explain in details on wakefulness, over workfulness?

I'm just reflecting that there's great value in balance; getting enough sleep, for example, might be difficult if you're constantly thinking about what you could be working on. Other aspects of your life will ultimately suffer if work is your sole focus.

And if you feel guilty that you're not working hard enough, what amount would be enough? If you say, "I'm going to do $$$ amount of business this week." and you reach that goal, can you relax, or are you constantly pushing harder?

Look, you are responsible for your health... physical, mental, spiritual, etc. If the way you've set up your life doesn't serve to keep you or those around you healthy, no GTD system will serve you. You have to decide to make changes if things are out of balance. And that may just happen organically as circumstances change for you. Being motivated and goals-driven is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong! But if you think things need to change, it's time to stop talking about it and put the pedal to the metal.

I hope that makes some sense... haven't had my morning tea yet...

Dena

Comment

I go to work daily. I do day specific tasks, go to scheduled meetings, use spare time for doing tasks from my next action lists. I do weekly and daily reviews. And I feel guilty when I have spare time but I'm tired, not capable to do anything. Am I a workaholic? Am I a doing machine, a robot?

Hi. I can speak with some experience on this matter. I was a workaholic and was a member of workaholics Annonymous. It's a serious business and whilst a much ridiculed condition, it's very real.

The definition of a workaholic is someone who pursues work at the expense of everything else due to feelings of guilt and self worth.

The good news is that GTD cured me. Having the processes in place to see your work and not be consumed by lists in your brain is a major thing. A little cheesy I know buy GTD gave me back my life.

I can suggest the following for you which helped me a great deal.

- Set up your GTD to have faith and trust in it. Invest the time to make it perfect.
- set strict working hours and adhere to them
- Force yourself to have a day or two off per week
- Look up workaholics annonymous and read the book

I know you'll hate it but you have to force yourself to have that time off and you will learn to enjoy it.

I'd also like to say thanks to David Allen and GTD for giving me back my life. I still get work guilt from time to time, but I've been using GTD for over 3 years and I've never bee happier - in work and in life.

Comment

I go to work daily. I do day specific tasks, go to scheduled meetings, use spare time for doing tasks from my next action lists. I do weekly and daily reviews. And I feel guilty when I have spare time but I'm tired, not capable to do anything. Am I a workaholic? Am I a doing machine, a robot?

Depends if what you're doing is what you want to be doing. If you enjoy it, if it makes you feel, happy, engaged, satisfied then its all good.

Comment

I go to work daily. I do day specific tasks, go to scheduled meetings, use spare time for doing tasks from my next action lists. I do weekly and daily reviews. And I feel guilty when I have spare time but I'm tired, not capable to do anything. Am I a workaholic? Am I a doing machine, a robot?